Streaming + Download

$3.99USD or more

Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

Yes, Music is still an Artifact! Touch it, display it, enjoy the thrilling moment of silence as the needle touches the groove...
This 1st Vinyl Pressing is a limited edition of 500, pressed on 12", 180 Gram Vinyl. The custom printed jacket features cover photography by Jay Frederick, and the custom printed sleeve contains full lyrics & album credits.
AND every vinyl purchase comes with a free, high quality digital download of "Little John," which includes the bonus song: "When I Think of Home." Download in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
**ATTN RETAILERS: email johndelore@gmail.com for special pricing (record stores, online stores, etc)

ships out within 5 days

edition of 500

$10USDor more

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

The CD is not dead. Oh no, not by a long shot. My Sony Discman (circa 2000) is still spinning away.
The CD version of "Little John the Conqueror" features the same beautiful cover art as on the vinyl. Also, the CD contains the additional "bonus" track, "When I Think of Home."
And for your digital needs, each CD purchased comes with an immediate free download of the full 11-track album.
Includes unlimited streaming of Little John the Conqueror
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

about

The anticipated follow-up to "Ode to American Urn." Produced & Recorded by John DeLore. Recorded at the Black Lodge, Brooklyn, NY (May thru December 2010). Mixed by Bryan Pugh. Mastered by Kevin Blackler.

contact / help

Her body is much younger than her movements might suggest, clutching at her breast, eyes distant and dispossessed.

Where she goes when the sun goes down is anybody's guess. All I know is she wears her loneliness like a wedding dress.

She'll tie a ribbon in her hair if she wants to forget you, and a ribbon around her finger if she wants to take you with her when she goes.

And where her body bends is where the book of love begins. It's the same place that it ends, and begins once again.

The taste of blood on her lips always reminds me of the South, where the mouth of a mother so merciful first taught the hills to sing.

Where the Southern Belles of Bedlam ring across a valley of dolls, and the fruit of the moon falls from a tree cradle and all. Cradle and all.

And the days they will come to an end for reasons that you and I can't comprehend. We both know that the heart that won't show itself grows cold.

On the corner of Avenue A, she buys a peach and I buy a plum. I kiss the palm of her hand and she kisses the crown of my thumb.

We are drunk among all these banners, and we walk like we own the streets. Where the falling leaves meet the rising steam she takes her leave of me.

Where she goes when the sun goes down is still anybody's guess, but she tells me I wear my loneliness like a bullet proof vest. (oh, no)

And the days they will come to an end for reasons that you and I can't comprehend. We both know that the ghost that won't show itself grows cold.

You and I. You and I. You and I.

Track Name: Northern Georgia Fog

The Northern Georgia fog is thick like memories,
And the trees they loom like vows.
They remind me I gave my word to be a man of decency,
But the shadows aren’t the only things to fall.

Now, Jenny won’t you take me up to the mountain top.
Won’t you part all the clouds so I can see the stars?
You are soft and you are sweet, you are everything I need,
But you’re not what I need right now.

Jenny, won’t you take me to where the two rivers meet.
Take me ‘neath the bridge and sweep me off my feet.
You are soft and you are sweet, you are everything I need.
You’re just not what I need right now.

Life is so long, my dear.
And even the fog can have a silver lining.
When I see you again,
Don’t you know that the sun will be shining then?

Jenny won’t you take me up to the mountain top.
Won’t you part all the clouds so I can see the stars?
You are soft and you are sweet, you are everything I need,
You’re just not what I need right now.

Track Name: The King of Uglytown

It’s 2 a.m. and the castle is empty.
The road’s a bit rough, but my feet don’t mind.
We’re miles away from the morning light.
There’s a cold war playing on my radio.

I’ve got a one-track mind, I think we’re two of a kind.
I wanna see your hair fall down.
I’m gonna show you a real good time tonight.
I’m the King of Uglytown.

Now, it’s Autumn time down in Uglytown.
The eiderdown unfolds.
All the crows are speaking in the branches,
In the backward bloom of Autumn’s gold,

The night comes early and the soldiers of fortune
Are standing on the corner of Hard Luck and Chance.
I broke the bank, I fixed myself up nice.
I’m the King of Uglytown.

Pennies on the dollar, and the dollar’s on every single mind.
We wear our fevers on our sleeve down here in Caroline.
It’s the fool and his money, the king and his crown.
We shoot ‘em all up and we drink ‘em all down, down, down.
Down here in Uglytown.

Uncle Sam is hurling rockets at the Moon.
There’s holes in my pockets, I’m as crazy as a loon.
It’s plain as day, yeah it’s come what may,
Down here in Uglytown.

While little baby Jake drinks the government milk,
His mother runs around in some hand-me-down silk.
It’s honey and salt, it’s nobody’s fault,
Down here in Uglytown.

Pennies on the dollar, and the dollar’s on every single mind.
We wear our fevers on our sleeve down here in Caroline.
It’s the fool and his money, the king and his crown.
We shoot it all up and we drink it all down, down, down.
Down here in Uglytown.

In my waking dream there’s a neon sign that’s beaming
Like a bloodshot eye of a storm.
St. Saxophone he wails as the veils of Salome
Flutter and fall away from her form.

In this waking dream all the brake lights they are shining
Like a bouquet of roses exploding in my mind.
There’s a light in her eyes as the new day is rising.
She smiles and she says, “Honey,
You can call me anytime you need a friend.”

And though I may give her my body,
Always I save my hand
For the one who sleeps with one eye open.
She’s the rose of No Man’s Land.

Now it’s final call in any bar you choose.
Say a ‘Hail Bloody Mary,’
So full of grace and so full of booze.
At the top of the stairs there’s a muse beside my bed.
She says she knows my soul,
Throws her high heel at my head.

A verse for her would not hurt, I suppose,
But I’ll save my chorus and my finest prose
For the one who sleeps with one eye open.
She’s the rose of No Man’s Land.

She’s the one red rose every traveler knows.
She’s the work of a master’s hand,
And she sleeps in a garden with one eye open.
She’s the rose of No Man’s Land.

Track Name: Long Time No See

Long time, no see. I guess that’s the way things were meant to be.
I’m singing of you are you thinking of me? Long time...

Christening ships leaves shards of glass on a shoreline.
Like a heart-to-heart leaves a streak in the dark of your eyeline.
All you could be was cruel to be kind,
And all I could see was the thrill of the old broken line
That runs through the mountains,
Alongside a river and down to the sea.

Long time, no see. I guess that’s the way things were meant to be.
I’m singing of you are you thinking of me? Long time, no see.

I’ve been waiting, and you’ve been waiting.
We’ve been waiting (waiting for the other one)
I’ve been waiting, and you’ve been waiting.
We’ve been waiting (waiting for the other one)

The last time I saw you, in your Salvation Army sundress,
With a Black Eyed Susan behind your ear, I was losing your confidence.
All you could be was cruel to be kind,
And all I could see was the thrill of the old broken line
That runs through the mountains,
Alongside a river and down to the sea.

Long time, no see. I guess that’s the way things were meant to be.
I’m singing of you are you thinking of me? Long time, no see.

Track Name: Done Gone

I am done. I am gone. I am digging a hole out in the lawn to bury all the books that I used to read for fun,
and the curses that I threw at the sun when I was young

I have done all I can. I will pray for you tomorrow. In the soft golden glow of the Autumn’s setting sun I can feel you.

If the stars would align for you, and the angels took your side, I wonder could you be...yeah, I wonder could you ever really be satisfied?

Track Name: Wayside

Have you heard the news?
The blues are on the rise again.
It seems we’ve got nothing left to say,
So we’ll save our love for a rainy day.

You wanna give up all your money.
You wanna do away with pride.
You wanna turn your back on earthly things,
But baby don’t cast my love aside.

Oh, baby I know you wanna get born again.
Sweetheart, that’s just what I wanna do to.
Why don’t we lay down in this fire together?
We can see the light shine through.
I wanna get born again and wake up in the cradle
With you right by my side.

In a room full of strangers you are the strangest one,
And everybody’s talking.
The tears in your eyes and the sugar on the tip of your tongue
And everybody’s talking.
About your wooden cross and your silver spoon,
Your burning heart and your paper moon.
Now everybody’s talkin’ bout love in the 21st century.

All the newspapers say there’s a countdown to Sunday,
And everybody’s talking.
Tears of joy and sorrow for a good man who’s back from the dead,
And everybody’s talking.
About the picture of a child in his heart-shaped locket,
The pint of Black Velvet in his back pocket.
And everybody’s talkin’ bout love in the 21st century,
Now everybody’s talkin’ bout love in the 21st century
Except for you you and me.

In a world full of danger you have the strangest dreams.
The clean cut kid you kissed, and the clean cut on his wrist.

In a world full of danger you are the strangest dream.
And everybody’s talking.
Your dress of knives, your nine lives, and your moonbeams.
Everybody’s talking.
They say time was a diamond and you stole it with a kiss.
You put it on a chain and now you wear it on your wrist.
Now everybody’s talkin’ bout love in the 21st century.
Yeah, everybody’s talkin’ bout love in the 21st century
Except for you...
Except for you and me.

Track Name: When I Think of Home

When I think of home it's not a city on a map.
It's not a house on a hill, not a room to be filled.
It's not a street name.
It's just the people.

Oh, when I think of home not a word comes to mind.
And the rooms that survive through the passing of time don't seem real anymore.
But the people remain.

I would be fine if you put down your pen,
And wrote no more letters to me.
But my heart would break if I thought that it meant
You were no longer thinking of me.

Oh, when I think of home it's not a city on a map.
It's not a house on a hill, not a room to be filled.
It's not a street name.
It's just the people.
It's just the people I love.

Track Name: Blood/Thunder

I signed the door to nowhere, I lay down in a field.
My body was tired and I tried to rest, but the voices would not yield.
They said, ‘Rise up from your slumber. Climb down from your bed.
The better angels call to you in shades of blue and red.’

Here come the blood, and here come the thunder,
The roar and the rumble of the underground.
A six foot shadow on a hill,
And we all make a joyful sound.

Now gossip moves through a small town,
Like a wind moving through the grain.
But the red blood howls in a young man’s body
Like the whistle of a west bound train.

I seen Little John sneaking through the alley
Though he knows it could cost his life
To take one final meal in the arms of his neighbor’s wife.

But here come the blood, and here come the thunder,
The roar and the rumble of the underground.
A six foot shadow on a hill,
And we all make a joyful sound.